We have long been told a simple story about reward: Dopamine is the "wanting" molecule that drives us toward goals, and ...

Relapsing after quitting cocaine is not simply a matter of willpower — it reflects physical changes in the brain, according to new research. Scientists have found that repeated cocaine use reshapes ...

Cocaine addiction isn’t simply a failure of willpower — it’s the result of lasting biological changes in the brain.

Most of the genetic risk for developing a substance use disorder comes from genes that broadly affect how our brains process rewards, regulate impulses and weigh consequences—not from genes that ...

Engagement-maximizing architectures such as infinite scroll, autoplay, and emotionally targeted notifications remain broadly permissible. That gap, however, is now being challenged on multiple fronts.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — A group of researchers at West Virginia University plans to study how a brain implant could affect opioid cravings for people with substance use disorder. The Register-Herald ...

Scientists may have figured out how addictive drugs like cocaine hijack the brain’s reward system to make us ignore basic needs like food or water. In mice, the researchers were able to extensively ...

Remarkable scientific progress over the past five decades has helped us develop knowledge of how drugs of abuse induce pleasure, reinforce use, and lead to the compulsive self-administration we call ...

Researchers discover a new dopamine signal in the striatum that acts as a guidance system, encoding trajectory errors to steer behavior toward goals.

Prescription weight loss drugs have been lauded as the miracle drug for treating diabetes and obesity, but new research suggests that these drugs, known as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) ...

You reach for your phone the moment you wake up, scroll through social media while drinking coffee, check notifications during every spare moment, and fall asleep with your device in hand. This ...